Scratchman and UNIT Encounters

[quipxotic]

I've finally finished listening to the Fourth Doctor story Scratchman by Tom Baker. It's not a good book, but in parts it's very enjoyable, frightening, and utterly bizarre. What comes through in abundance is the Doctor's (and I suspect Tom Baker's) great love for his role and his two companions, Sarah Jane Smith (played by the late Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (played by the late Ian Marter). It's that love that gives the story a mix of wistful melancholy and joyous nonsense. Tom Baker's performance on the audiobook is delightful and makes the whole thing much stronger than it otherwise would be. It's a performance that almost makes up for a plot that makes no sense and the overabundance of similes. Oh so many similes! I'm not against them as a rule, and some of the ones in this book are very good (or surprising, or evocative), but when they appear seemingly ever other sentence even good ones get old. There are Time Lords in abundance here too, but they're cardboard cutout villains and after a while they become more a formality than a threat. There are some interesting cameos - versions of the First, Second, and Third Doctors play a role, the Tenth and Thirteenth Doctors show up briefly, and the Fifth is mentioned. The Thirteenth Doctor's appearance is particularly touching. The whole book is a bit like someone took all their favorite elements of Doctor Who, shook them all up, and dumped them out into story. Who knows, maybe that's exactly what Tom Baker did? Still, this is probably not a book for a casual fan; but fans of Tom Baker and his Doctor, have at it.

Last week I finished writing dabbles for UNIT Encounters. Unlike most UNIT audios, this set contains four separate stories rather than one overarching one. This makes it a whole lot harder to write for as each of the one hour stories is a lot tighter and there are fewer gaps for me to fill; but they're good stories with some interesting ideas.